Another view
by SerenitySaturn
Summary: A story that follows Branch and Poppy as they grow up together and eventually grow closer. Some tastefully mature content... which is why we're all here, am I wrong? Also, my very first fanfic so don't judge too harshly!
1. Chapter 1: Hello

**Chapter 1 Hello**

"NO TROLL LEFT BEHIND" squeaked the tiny poppy as her father held her up to the crowd. After finally coming up with and successfully executing the escape plan, it was such a relief there were no casualties the trolls cheered and whooped as loud as they possibly could! Although, they probably would had done so anyway. Freedom after years enslaved by the burgens was victory in and of itself. And though tiny poppy did not truly understand what happened, even she could feel the excitement and hope that glistened on the faces of every troll in front of her.

As the group made there way onward, poppy imagined what their new home would be like. All she had ever known of the world was the large tree centered in Burgentown's square. She knew she would miss her pod, and the small flowers that grew around the base of the tree, but the hope and happiness that bubbled inside her was more than enough to make it up. Resting inside her fathers's hair, Poppy looked out at the crowd as they skipped and danced and sang forward. Almost everyone looked like they were having a good time. Small poppy did notice, though, one young troll who was not skipping or dancing or singing. It looked as though he was simply walking. His black hair bobbed slowly as he slumped along the moss. How odd! poppy thought. How could anyone NOT join in on the excitement that was filling the air? She watched him a little while longer. He looked to be about a year or so older than poppy was. His dark obsidian hair stuck straight up and contrasted drastically with the neon colors of the trolls around him. Even his skin was odd, a dark grayish green/ blue. Poppy had never seen a troll with colors like that before. She watched him from atop her fathers head for a little while longer, but eventually the excitement around her took over and she, too, began to sing and wiggle to some sort of beat that was filling the air.

10 years later

Branch had finally gotten the hang of living on his own. Planning, Constructing, and up keeping his new pod was hard work, especially since he had no family or close friends to help. But after 10 years of living in his new home, branch was able to carry out all chores and obligations fast and efficiently. It had been especially difficult since he also started work on a secret underground bunker. You can't be too safe. Branch knew that the burgens could return and if that happened he wanted to take all precautions necessary, even if that meant having no social interactions for days due to his work load. He had chosen to place his pod and bunker near the edge of the Troll village. He found that the noise level was bearable, since the trolls had some kind of festivity at least once a week. Being just 14 years old, Branch should have been in school right about now. Learning about ridiculous things like how to sing in different scales or how to dance a samba. Branch knew that his time was better spent away from that nonsense. At this moment, he was collecting moss. He planned to use it as stuffing for a new comforter, since the one he had now was thinning and winter was approaching.

Trolls rarely wandered through his secluded area of the village so as Branch leaned over a particularly dense patch of moss growing at the base of a large mushroom, he was surprised to hear the faint laughter of two trolls heading his way. He grunted. From the sound of it, they were both girls maybe around his age. Branch stood up straight just as the two voices rounded a boulder into view. One troll had bright orange dreadlocks tied up and a huge pair of head phones hanging around her neck. Although her pink color was the the more vibrant of the two, branch's eyes were immediately drawn to the other troll. Princess Poppy. Branch already knew who she was, of course. Everybody did. She was the princess. He doubted, though, that she knew anything about him. The two girls were laughing hysterically about something Princess poppy had said and for a second Branch thought that they were going to trip over each other. _Jeez, how can people act like that even in private_ , branch thought slightly annoyed. Princess poppy was wiping a tear out of her eye as she looked up. She immediately spotted branch and gave him a big old grin. She elbowed her friend who also looked up, but who had to look around a bit before seeing what poppy noticed.

"Hey there!" Princess Poppy yelled as she waved a hand.

Branch paused for a moment. Reflexively he turned his head to see if Princess Poppy was actually speaking to someone behind him. No one. He turned back and saw that the princes had started skipping over to him. Branch wasn't quite sure what to do. Sure he COULD act social in social settings but usually he didn't want to. He usually found the singing and glitter to be just… too much, which usually put him in a mood.

"You're Branch right? Hi! I'm Poppy"

Surprised, Branch was at first wordless "Uh.. yeah I'm Branch. And…I know who you are." Poppy's bright eyes sparkled as she smiled at him.

"I've seen you around sometimes, but I've never had the chance to talk to you! I don't think I've seen you at school or anything though."

"uh, Yeah thats because I don't go to school."

"whoa really? Don't your parents make you go?"

"No. My parents are dead" Branch said with a flat voice.

"Oh… I… I'm sorry" Poppy suddenly got flustered and branch noticed her pink cheeks turning into an even darker shade of pink.

"It's fine. It was a long time ago." Branch's eyes flickered to the floor and then back up to Poppy. "So then why are you here, shouldn't you two be in school?"

Poppy seemed relieved that Branch had changed the awkward path that this conversation was going, "Yeah, hehe, well… me and my friend DJ Suki actually decided to… play hooky" Poppy leaned forward and whispered these last two words as though the leaves would hear and tell on them.

"oh, well, good for you two" Branch said in the same flat voice, this time with a small hint of sarcasm. He noticed that the friend, apparently named DJ Suki, had started dancing on her way over and had gotten so distracted that she was now full on disco-ing to some noise that was blasting from her head phones. "And, how do you know me?"

"Oh, I've seen you around the village!"

"No, I mean my name. How do you know my name?"

"Hehe, I've been learning all the names of all the villagers!" Poppy looked very proud. Branch was admittedly a little impressed as well. Despite how ridiculous the princess acted along with everyone else, learning every single persons name was not easy especially since there were close to 5,000 trolls.

"That's actually pretty impressive." He complimented.

"Thanks!" Poppy was beaming at his words. "Hey, Suki and I were gonna go explore the forest! Do you wanna come with?"

"Um, well I kinda have things here to finish up so…" Branch had gotten so used to automatically refusing an invitation that the words came out of his mouth before he had time to stop them.

"Nonesense!" Poppy grabbed his hand and started pulling him, "It'll be so much fun! We can dance and sing and,"

"I don't sing." a short silence followed.

"Oh, um, why not?" Poppy looked surprised but intrigued as well.

"I just hate singing, thats all" Again, branch looked around, trying not to make eye contact with Poppy.

Feeling that branch was getting uncomfortable poppy dropped it, "Okay! Thats fine! You can Just dance! Come on" and she pulled again on Branches hand. _What was up with this girl?_ Branch thought. _she barely knows me at all, yet she's acting like all she wants in the world right now if for me to go exploring with her?_

Poppy pulled even harder on his hand until Branch eventually gave in and let her lead him away from the moss patch.

"SUKI! COME ON LETS GO! BRANCH IS COMING!" Poppy screamed at Suki who was listening intently to her headphone. Suki looked up excitedly and without removing her headphone exclaimed, "Poppy! I gotta go girl! I just had an EPIPHANY! Yo this new mix I'm coming up with right now is the shit!" She gave Poppy a wink and quick thumbs up toward Branch before she spun around quickly and started running back towards the village.

Still walking, Poppy said "Suki makes the sickest beats. I can't wait to hear what she's got brewing."

Branch looked over at poppy. She was smiling and looking of to where suki had disappeared between the trees. _Why is she smiling?_ His gaze travelled down to their entwined hands. _And why is she still holding my hand?_ he started to shake his hand loose and poppy let go.

"So what do you like to do?" She asked happily

"Oh, I mainly just work on my house. Preparing, you know." Branch replied. _How in the world did he get into this situation. 5 minutes ago he was collecting moss quietly and now he was having a weird awkward conversation with the princess._

"preparing for what?"

"PREPARING FOR WHAT? Seriously, did you just ask that!" Branch said annoyed. Startled, Poppy jumped at his sudden volume, "Ummm… yes?"

"From the BURGENS, obviously! You know there gonna come back right?"

"What! No, we're totally safe! If they haven't found us yet, then I think we'll be fine!"

Branch rolled his eyes. Of course nobody ever believed him. But he knew. They were coming…

"Yeah sure whatever" He said quickly. Sometimes he just felt fed up.

Poppy glanced over at him. She could tell this was a touchy subject for branch "Well, I mean, yeah. I guess it is possible that they could still find us."

Branch stopped walking and looked at poppy. No one had ever actually agreed with him about the Burgens. Poppy realized that branch wasn't beside her anymore and turned. He was just looking at her, stunned. She smiled and giggled, "hey, are you okay?"

Branch was stunned he couldn't say anything back. He was looking at poppy as though he'd never seen her before. All he knew about the princess was that she was as much of a party animal as the rest of the village. He never thought that she would be the first one to at least entertain his apparently radical notion that the burgens could find them. He wasn't sure how long he had been staring.

"HEY BRANCH!" Branch blinked and realized that, yes, he had been staring for quite some time. "You okay? I called your name, like, 5 times."

"Oh, um yeah i'm fine. No ones ever… agreed with me before"

"what really? well, anythings possible, even the Burgens." She smiled at him sweetly. They started walking again deeper into the forest. The rest of their adventure was filled with friendly chit chat. Poppy laughing at some of the crazy and weird things branch said, while branch barely laughed at all. He did however smile during parts of their conversations, which was something he hardly did.

Once it was time to head home poppy walked with branch back to the moss patch she had first spotted him in.

"Well that was really fun Branch! Thanks for exploring with me" She beamed at him. Her gaze was so direct and she seemed so genuine that branch actually had a hard time coming up with words

"Yeah, it wasn't so bad" He gave a very soft, very small grin.

"Too bad you don't go to school, we could hang out way more if you did! anyway, I gotta get back home before my dad realizes that I'm later than usual" Poppy started leaning toward branch making him automatically lean away. _Wait, what is she doing?_ His mind started panicking.

"what are you doing?" He blurted without thinking. Poppy didn't hesitate, she continued moving closer until realization dawned on him.

"I'm giving you a hug silly!" She succeeded in wrapping her arms around his body. Branch stayed as stiff as a board with his eyes shut. Poppy was still clueless and continued to hold on tight to him. In Branches opinion, Hugs were an unfortunate thing to get. Why in the world would he want to squish up to somebody else's body. Usually they made him incredibly uncomfortable. This time, though, for some reason it actually felt… nice? He relaxed a little into the hug and noticed that Poppy smelled a bit like honeysuckle. He began breathing in more deeply than usual. It was not uncommon for troll hugs to last 20, maybe 30 seconds. And whenever Branch would receive a hug he usually counted down the seconds until it was over. This hug he must have forgot to count, though, because when poppy eventually pulled away it surprised Branch how short it seemed and how he wished it had gone on a little longer.

"see you later!" Poppy said brightly. She turned and started to walk away. Branch stayed standing, watching her walk. A couple times she would turn to look back at him and wave until finally she had rounded the boulder out of sight. Branch let out a long sigh and leaned against the nearby mushroom shaft. _Awe man_ he thought, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. He realized his neck was a little moist with sweat. _Huh, weird._ It wasn't a hot day, why was he sweating… _Must have been from the hike… yeah…_ Branch refused to believe that his increased body temperature was due to the princess's hug.


	2. Chapter 2: Wet

**Chapter 2: Wet**

Over the next two and a half years poppy and Branch had become friends. She was even able to get him to come to school once or twice, but after branch realized how much singing occurred there he told her he would never go again. Poppy found their friendship funny and enjoyable despite the fact that most of her other friends had noticed how pessimistic and cold branch could be. Poppy noticed it too, but she was the type of troll that was too happy to let that get in the way of a good friendship. Her friends never quite understood what poppy saw in her and branch's friendship, but they were always relatively nice and polite to him. Despite that fact that he would never attend any of her parties, poppy always found ways for her and branch to hang out. Whether it be after school going for a short hike, or on days off when she could do as she pleased.

Spring break was approaching and Poppy was super excited. She had been planning a spring party which would be held at the nearby lake, a pool party! DJ Suki and guy diamond were helping plan and all three agreed that this was going to be one sick bash. Poppy had just finished up the last of her invites. She looked down at her scrapbooking table to admire her handy work. She picked up the last letter and looked at it for a long time. This would be Branches invitation. She couldn't help but smile. She just knew branch would love it. Even though he'd never come to her parties, and even though he'd scoff when she would give him an invite, and even though he sometimes would rip them up or throw them carelessly into his knapsack without looking at them… she just knew he would love this one. She was going to give it to him today and she hoped that he would say yes! She stuck the envelope into her hair and started skipping her way toward Branch's pod. She was so excited she could burst. The sky was shining, there was a breeze drifting though the leaves and nothing could go wrong on this beautiful day. Finally, panting a little from the distance to Branch's, she walked up to his door, knocked a rhythm on the door and waited. She heard movement from inside and adjusted some strands of hair that had slipped from her up-do. Branch opened the door cautiously and only when he realized that it was poppy did he open it completely.

"HI BRANCH!"

Branch flinched at her volume and rubbed his ear. "Poppy. Hey what's up"

"I have a surprise for you, BUT, you can only have it if you promise you'll say yes!" Branch could see that poppy was extra excited today. Her cheeks were flushed and her pink was glowing brighter than usual. He knew she was up to something, but whenever he saw poppy as excited as she was now, he always felt guilty if he disappointed her and made her glow fade.

Pausing for a second he cringed and said, "fine… Yes… okay?"

Poppy danced in a little circle before reaching up and retrieving the letter from her hair. Branch watched as she searched for the whatever it was she was going to give him and noticed how lately her hair was looking… different… he couldn't quite place it. Branch had been thinking about poppy a lot lately… not because he wanted to (although he did), but because for some reason he couldn't NOT think about her. Her hair especially though.

[You see, a trolls hair is… special. It has multiple purposes. A troll can use it as camouflage, or as a weapon, a tool, an extra hand. It could be used as a sort of fashion accessory to describe ones inner self. A trolls hair is also used for attraction. For getting others to notice you. Similar to a male peacock's tail, troll hair is a natural accessory to attract. It was also something that is very intimate and privet. See, it would be incredibly rude and intrusive to touch another trolls hair unless the two were very, very close and intimate with one another].

And Poppy's hair certainly could grab someones attention. Not that she realized any of the effects that her hair had on others. Branch realized though, and he also realized how all the other guys realized how poppy's hair looked. Not that he was being territorial or jealous or anything. He just… noticed when people noticed her.

Poppy finally found her letter and handed it over to branch excitedly

"oh my god poppy, not another one. Are you kidding?"

"Please just open it! you'll like this one I swear!" Poppy bit her lip as branch opened the felt card. It was a pop up card with a little branch and a little poppy dancing on a lilly pad in a pond of water splashing glitter at each Other.

"you can't be serious. A pond party?"

"YES! Oh Branch it's going to be so much fun. You should really come! You'll like it, I swear. everyones going to go swimming and play water tag and… Oh PLEASE will you come!"

Branch sighed. He really did not want to go. But he couldn't help imagining how fun it would be to swim with poppy. He imagined what her hair would look like all wet and soaking… immediately after he had that thought he felt guilty. Poppy was his friend. Not just some troll to fantasize about. He gulped. Luckily poppy couldn't read minds.

"fine…" he said as a faint blush colored his cheeks.

"Wait, REALLY!" Poppy began jumping up and down. This was a momentous occasion. Branch had never once attended any of her parties. She hugged him tightly even though she was still jumping. He was suddenly squished flush up against poppy's as she jumped and jumped.

"Okay okay I get it you're excited now let me go" He exclaimed blushing very hard at this point. Poppy released him. She knew today would be a great day!

Branch laid in bed that night looking up at the ceiling. He closed his eyes and tried not to think of poppy but failed. What was it about her that made him feel so… He wasn't even sure what she made him feel… tingly? Whatever this feeling was, it couldn't be healthy. He tried for the rest of the day not to think about her. I was difficult though. The pond party was the next day and a mixture of nervousness and excitement bubbled in his stomach whenever thought of the party flitted across his mind. He just had to keep himself busy and keep his mind from straying.


	3. Chapter 3: Soft

Warning! This chapter contains adult themes which include weird troll hair fondling and implied attempted rape. Nothing too detailed, but if anyone is sensitive to that subject, you have been warned.

Chapter 3: Soft

The next day branch was determined not to think about anything except for what he was doing in the moment. The pond party was later in the evening so he spent the morning and afternoon fixing broken shingles on his roof, collecting and jar-ing wild berries for his bunker, pretty much anything that would keep him busy. It was almost time for the party when branch remembered that it was cool to arrive fashionably late. He wasn't sure what "Fashionably late" actually meant, so he decided that 1 hr was late enough to be considered "cool". One hour past the party start time came and branch changed into a pair of swimming shorts and started heading over to the pond. He was still half a mile away but could already hear the faint sounds of shouting and music in the air. _God they're so loud._ Branch was't sure how long he would be able to stay. Even the faint beat of the music was already making him glower.

The sun was setting as he finally pushed past the last the last of the bushes between the village and the pond. It looked as though the entire village was here. There were trolls swimming, dancing, singing (of course), swinging from vines, jumping of rocks into the water. He stood there, wondering what to do now. Luckily at that moment he heard familiar voices.

"Oh my gosh!"

"Branch you actually came!"

It was satin and chenille. The twins ran over to him.

"Poppy told us you were coming…"

"But honestly we didn't think you'd actually show!"

"Uh, yeah well when I make a promise…" He implied as he trailed of. He started scanning the water to see if he could see poppy.

"You looking for someone?" Chenille said teasingly. Branch looked over at her as she gave him a wink.  
"who is it that your looking for?" Satin asked with mock confusion. Of course the two sisters knew who branch was looking for.

"what… no one" Branch said quickly looking away from them and back at the water. "Just taking in the sights…" the two sister giggled.

"well," teased Chenille, "Speaking of sights…"

Branch looked over at her to see what she was talking about. he followed Chenille's line of sight and at the end of it was poppy. She was talking with Biggie and laughing about something.

Branch gave a cough and said, "well I better go and say hi I guess"

"yeah you better!" Chenille giggled and gave Branch a push as he walked away from the sisters.

As Branch approached Poppy and Biggie he saw out of his peripheral another troll heading their way. It was creek… _UHG._ Branch loathed Creek. His stupid hair and his stupid accent and his stupid namaste crap he wouldn't shut up about. Branch paused to see what interaction was about to happen between Creek Biggie and Poppy. Poppy had seen creek and had waved at him. He started talking with poppy. Biggie said something before he turned to join DJ suki at the mix table. Creek and Poppy continued talking. It looked like Creek was flirting with Poppy. Branch began getting very irked. Creek kept glancing up at poppy's tall beautiful pink hair. Poppy didn't notice because she was too innocent, of course. But Branch noticed and it made him unreasonably furious even though he still wasn't sure why. Creek was flirting harder than ever with poppy now and leaned forward to boop her nose with his fingertip. THATS IT! Thought Branch angrily. He stormed over to the two, Sloshing through waste deep water as he went. He approached loud enough to catch the attention of Poppy and Creek who both turned to him, Poppy with a genuine smile on her face and creek who was also wearing a smile (although not quite as genuine).

"Branch! You came!" Poppy rushed in to hug him. Branch happily noticed that creek had a slightly annoyed look on his face as poppy squeezed him tight. She finally let go.

"Braaaanch, oh my god Branch. You HAVE to try the lemonade. It's soon good" Branch could tell that poppy was already a little bit buzzed because although her gaze was steady on him, she swayed slightly as she talked. She grabbed Branch's hand before he even had time to say no and she began dragging him towards the snack table. He would have stopped her except that she had completely forgotten about creek, which was extremely pleasing. She lead branch away as branch gave a quick glance back at Creek who definitely was looking annoyingly at branch, so branch continued following poppy with a smirk on his face.

The snack table was covered with different fruit tarts, pastries, cookies, crackers, and juices. Poppy took a cup and filled it to the brim with a light purple liquid and roughly handed it into Branch.

"Here'ya go! Drink up" Poppy looked very proud.

"Thanks" Branch was about to take his first sip when poppy yelled out "WAIT…. I want one too!" And proceeded to pour herself a generous amount as well. Branch could tell this was strong stuff the second it touched his lips. It was very sweet, but still burned as it went down his throat. He winced and looked over at poppy who had already chugged 3/4th of her cup.

"Whoa Poppy! Slow down! Jeez how many have you had already" Poppy swayed a little as she focused on his face intently

"Only like…3" She had to think about that last number for a second. "Come on Branch! Don't be such a party pooper and dance with me!"

"well… Fine" He followed poppy who was already grooving as she lead him to the water where she proceeded to jump crazily to the music that was filling the air. Branch half heartedly started dancing. Eventually some of Poppy's other friends showed up and a wild dance circle evolved with trolls taking turns to show their moves in the center.

As the night wore on Branch noticed that Poppy had gone for drinks a least 3 more times and as midnight neared she was extremely drunk, as well as everyone else. Branch had a couple more drinks as well and was feeling pretty tipsy himself. Eventually the time came for Branch to say good by and go home because 12:30 was really too late to party. He was about to turn to go home when he noticed Creek eyeing poppy from another group of dancing trolls. Branch wasn't sure why, but the way he was looking at Poppy concerned branch a little too much. It was as if Creek looked hungry… except not for food. At this point in the night poppy was way gone, branch could tell. Her words were slurred and didn't make much sense and she was bumping into everything.

Branch had walked to the edge of the pond and was about to find his way tipsily back home when he turned back to take one last look at the party. And that's when he saw it. Creek had his arm around poppy's waste and was leading her away from their circle of friends, and away from the party itself. _What the hell._ Branch started after them. He didn't know what Creek was planning to do to poppy and he did not want to find out. He was finally able to catch up with them and could hear creek talking.

"Don't worry my little poppy. I'm gonna take good care of you tonight hehe" That sentence gave Branch chills and he finally tore through a bush right behind creek. Creek had been holding poppy (who was very drunk at this point) in his arms and was just in the middle of laying her down on the dirt next to a giant tree. Branch's entrance had startled creek so much he had fallen backward.

"What the HELL do you think you're doing?" Branch's voice was intimidatingly low and gruff. He began rounding on creek who was hadn't had time to recover after falling backwards.

"No-Nothing! Nothing! I was just um, laying poppy down so she could um rest. yeah! She said she was tired to I thought we could take a break from the party or um or something."

Of course branch wasn't falling for Creek's pitiful attempt at lying.

"Get. The fuck. away from her." Branch paused in-between each word and stared fiercely at branch. He got up sloppily and ran quickly from the area Without being told twice. Branch stared in the direction creek ran for a few moments to make sure he had actually gone. When he was satisfied he turned his attention to poppy who was stilly lying in the dirt. Branch hurried towards her.

"Poppy. Poppy are you okay?" He whispered frantically. Here eyes drooped as she looked towards him.

"Branshhh. Yu leffed the pardy witho't tell'n me" She said groggily as she reached up her hand to pat his cheek a couple times. "WHy'd da music go away?" She asked looking slowly around her. "I wanna go back to da pardy!"

Branch sighed with relief. At least she could talk and She didn't seem scared. He started helping her onto her feet.

"Come one poppy. Lets go"

"Ah! ARe we gonna go back! I wanna DAncw more!"

"Yup. Sure. We're gonna go back to the party and keep dancing. So lets stand up"

"YAAaaaAayyyyy! I'm so happy" Poppy looked up at branch and gave him a big crooked grin. Branch sighed. He couldn't help but think how cute poppy was right now. He helped her stand, but after a few minutes of trying to walk with dunk poppy stumbling left and right he eventually made her jump onto his back so he could carry her. There was no way they were going back to that party though. Poppy was absolutely too wasted to do anything except sleep. Branch began heading back to his house, knowing that it would probably be best he didn't walk through the middle of Troll village with the extremely drunk princess on his back.

Twenty minutes later, Branch slid poppy off of his back breathing heavily. They had finally made it back to his place. Poppy, who had been singing loudly in his ear the entire time, looked around and said in a shocked voice, "Heyyyy, this'int the party" She crossed her arms and sulked at Branch while he unlocked his door and led her inside.

"Okay Poppy, How are you feeling?" Branch asked as they made they're way over to his couch.

"GreAt!" Poppy said jumping up and down. "What'r we gunna do now! Play a game?!"

Branch sighed tiredly, honestly the last think he wanted to do was play a game, but he figured it would be best to keep poppy occupied while she sobered up.

"Sure yeah. Let's play a game. What do you wanna play?"

Poppy stopped jumping, put a finger to her chin, stuck out her tongue, and tilted her head. She thought hard for a few moments and then stared straight at branch and said in very deep serious scary voice, "Lets play… Truth or Dare…" She stared at branch a few more moments until laughter began bubbling out of her mouth and she started jumping again and clapping her hands. Branch started sweating. He did not like the game truth or dare. He didn't like being forced into saying personal often humiliating information for the sake of a game and he didn't understand why people enjoyed playing it. But really… how hard would it be to play with a drunk person.

He sighed, "Fine! Whatever you wanna play"

"BUT! You HAVe to tell the TRufth… YEAH?" Poppy stuck out her pinky finger. Branch rolled his eyes as he shook it with his own pinky finger.

"Okay! ME first! Truth or dare?"

"Truth"

"HMmmmm… how many… no wait let me see…. Have you ever got'n drunk before?"

Easy enough Branch told himself. This game would be a piece of cake!

"No, Tonight was the first time. Truth or dare?"

"Truth!"

"Who do you think is the worst dancer in the village?"

"WHAT! I can't say that! That's too mean, No I won't" She crossed her arms and looked and stuck her nose in the air. Branch chose a mean question on purpose. He really wanted to see her reaction. Very funny (and cute) he thought.

"You HAVE to though… its truth or dare" Branch teased.

Poppy looked nervous and began playing with a strand of her hair which, of course, caught Branched eye immediately.

"Umm, well, I guess… If I HAD to pick, If it was a between answering the question or dieing… um I guess it would be Petaline, She's a girl in my class. She's… not very good. She always messes up the random flash dances…" Poppy hung her head in guilt.

"Ha, yeah she does suck. I've defiantly noticed haha" Branch laughed at poppy and at her truthful answer. Petaline really was awful. "Okay, my turn"

"Truth or dare?"

"Dare"

"Hm, okay dare, lets see." Poppy had sobered up a bit by now, and Branch could tell she was thinking hard about something because her brow furrowed as she thought.

"Sometime today would be nice…" Branch teased.

Poppy finally made up her mind and she looked up at branch and leaned forward, "I want yo- I mean, I dare you to… to… well…" Poppy was hesitating, her cheeks were flushed bright pink and her eyes darted from the ground up to Branch and back down again.

"What! What do I have to do?" Branch was picturing the worst. skipping through the village, Tripping an old person, Hosting a party…

Poppy took a gulp, "I dare you… to… run your hands through my h-hair"

Branch was speechless. In fact, his jaw actually dropped. "What?"

Poppy was red all over now, "You heard me!" and she squeezed her eyes shut as she leaned even more towards him.

Branch wet his lips and his eyes darted up to her hair. How could he just reach up and touch it.

Now Branch was the one blushing furiously. His breath was quick and he suddenly felt extremely hot. He began lifting his shaking hand up towards her hair. He hesitated as his hand hovered millimeters from it. He had imagined doing just this many times (Not that he would confess that to poppy). Is this okay, he thought. Poppy was still not totally sober. If he touched her hair now would that be wrong, even if it was poppy that asked him to do it? Would doing this, while they were both tipsy, make him any better than creek? All these questions raced through his mind. Poppy cracked an eye open to see what the hold up was and saw that Branch was frozen staring at her hair. The thought of branch's eyes focused so intently on her hair sent shivers and goosbumps along her skin. She suddenly tilted her head forward so that branch's frozen hand had been engulfed in her pink locks.

Branch sucked in a breath. All of a sudden his hand had a mind of it's own and it began wandering the length of her hair. It was soft and silky, even better than he had imagined it. His heart was beating faster and harder than it ever had before. As he continued to touch her, Branch looked down to see how poppy was reacting. Her eyes were closed gently and her lips were slightly parted. An almost unnoticeably soft moan escaped her lips which immediately sent Branch over the edge. He couldn't stop. He brought up his other hand and began running both of them through poppy's hair over and over again. By this point poppy was audibly panting and her brow was furrowed in pleasure. a slightly lower moan escaped her lips which brought Branch back to his senses. He quickly withdrew his hands and looking around the room at anything that wasn't Poppy.

Her eyes fluttered open and she saw branch fidgeting, eyes darting around, with pink staining his cheeks. He looked incredibly uncomfortable which made Poppy feel horrible. She shouldn't have asked him to do that. Obviously he didn't want to and how could she make her friend so uncomfortable

"Sorry I… I didn't mean to… I mean, Sorry" She said lamely

Branch's eyes flickered toward her and he saw the shame on poppy's face.

"No, umm, it's fine. I think we should get some sleep." Branch stood up "Here, you can sleep in my bed. I'll take the couch."

"Are you sure? I really don't mind"

"No its fine" Branch couldn't stop thinking about the impossible possibility of sharing his bed with her, but of course that was a ridiculous idea. He led her to his bedroom and once he was sure she didn't need anything else he walked over and fell onto the couch. Staring up at the ceiling and imagining princess poppy in his bed he drifted off to sleep.

Hope everyone likes it so far. Please let me know what you think, if you have suggestions, etc. I promise it will get smuttier.


	4. Chapter 4: Discovery

* Sorry it's taken a while! Hope everyone likes this new chapter. I know it's a little short... but it's also a little hot, so hopefully that will make up for the lack of length! Enjoy! I'll try to get the next chapter out sooner!

Chapter 4: The Discovery

Branch's temple's were pulsing with the after effects of the lemonade from last night. He lifted his head groggily from the couch and scanned the room. Sunlight was streaming through the windows and he wished everything would just go away. He tried to remember why he was sleeping on the couch. Could he not find his way to his bedroom last night? But then he remembered. Princess poppy had stayed over. And then the rest of last nights shenanigans came rushing back in his memory. The party, Creek,… truth or dare. Branch buried his face in his pillow out of sheer embarrassment. God, he must have looked so uncool last night to poppy. It must have been obvious to her that he had never done THAT before, or IT, or any other THING with another troll. He knew others his age (and younger even) had much much more experience than him which definitely made him a little embarrassed, although he would never say it out loud.

And what about Creek? Should he tell Poppy what happened? Would she believe him? He decided then and there not to mention it. Poppy was just too pure. He didn't want to scare her or make her sad. Branch decided that he would just have to keep a very close eye on the princess from now on, especially when she was near Creek.

The squeaking of floor boards alerted Branch that Poppy was awake. She slowly opened the door, peering through squinted eyes into the room. She spotted Branch on the couch. Slowly she stumbled over and slumped onto the floor, her head buried in the couch.

"Branch…" Her voice was muffled through the cushion. "Branch… I'm dyeing!"

Branch smirked at her, "No, your just hungover. We'll be fine" Slowly he got up and got them both glasses of water. They sat in silence drinking until Poppy suddenly coughed into her glass spraying water everywhere and soaking branch.

"Hey what the-"

"Oh my god, Branch… I'm so sorry. I'm so embarrassed. I can't believe I made you do that last night." She was blushing scarlet as she covered her face with her hands. "I can't believe what I did… jeez" Poppy was so embarrassed she couldn't even dare to look at branch.

"Poppy its fine, don't worry about it!" Branch tried to reassure her.

Poppy finally peeked up at him,"You mean you're not mad?"

"No."

"Or upset?"

"Of course not"

"… Did… did you like it"

Branch gulped. "Ummm, like what?"

"IT! You know… IT!"

How in the world could branch possibly confess to Poppy how much he enjoyed rubbing her hair. How inappropriate would that be? They were friends after all and not to mention she was the princess, strictly hands off.

"It was… fine" Branch felt like this was a safe response. This way he neither had to lie nor embarrass himself completely. Poppy, though, was very displease with this answer. _FINE?_ Thought Poppy. _He just thinks my hair is fine? SO, he must not have felt anything while he was touching it last night._ She furrowed her brow which Branch noticed immediately.

"Oh, well good then because I thought it was just fine too" Poppy said curtly as she stood suddenly and headed to the door. This confused Branch. _Was she mad at what he said? Did she not want him to like it? Or maybe she DID want him to like it?_ These questions swam in his mind as he got up to escort her. As was customary, Poppy turned to Branch at the doorway and gave him a curt hug. She started to pulling away but Branch's arms held steady, despite his better judgement. Poppy paused, surprised. _He hardly ever hugs me back_ she noticed. This caused her furrowed brow to softened into a content, relaxed smile. The lingering hug when on for just a spit second longer until branch forced himself to let go.

"It was an interesting party Poppy, I'm glad I went" Poppy froze.

"wait, really? does that mean you'll come next time?" Her gaze was unwavering and hopeful even though minutes before she had been pouting and mad at him.

"Okay, lets not get ahead of ourselves now…. maybe" Poppy began to jump up and down at these words and gave Branch yet another hug, squeezing him tightly around the middle.

"Thank you" Poppy mumbled. His heart quickened and he started to think back on last night's hair debacle. Although he would have liked to continue to hug her… and do much more than hug her, Branch didn't want to overstep any boundaries, especially after how unhappy poppy had been with him mere moments before. At last they said good by. Poppy kept looking back and waving even as she rounded the far boulder out of sight.

The second Poppy made it back to her house she ran to her room and shut the door quickly. She couldn't believe what happened last night, it seemed like just a dream. She felt like her frantically beating heart was going to rip itself out of her chest. She turned to look at the mirror hanging on her wall. Her reflection looked very flushed. She walked over and stood in front of herself. Poppy gave her self a slow penetrating once over. Her eyes travelled down her body, her neck, her collar, her chest, stomach, hips, legs.

She traced her hands lightly along her body as her eyes lead the way. Sometimes it was weird to think about… when was it exactly that she had grown so mature? When had she stopped being a child. She thought about Branch. How not too long ago they were just kids playing in the forest together, digging up mushrooms and chasing each other with sticks (well, poppy would chase branch, he would just run away). When was it that those moments transitioned into her current thoughts for him. How when he looked at her his blue eyes gave her goosebumps. How she would sometimes see him watching her and her hair, and how that thought sent chills throughout her body. Her eyes darted up to her hair. Pink and cottony, poppy reached up and ran a hand through it. She closed her eyes and imagined it was somebody else doing it. Again she ran her hand through and a tickle-y feeling spread down her spine and out to the ends of her limbs. She kept stroking and the feeling throughout her body intensified. It felt like a tickling pulse that was building deep inside. Poppy's lips parted and she began to breath faster.

She furrowed her brow and small whimpers began to escape her lips. She could see him. Dark blue, grey, and black filled her vision.

He was touching her.

Moving against her.

His moans of pleasure filled her mind and his hot skin was flush against her's. Black and pink hair began to tangle smoothly into each other.

Lips on skin.

Tongue on neck.

Joined breathing and panting.

The heat building inside of poppy was intense. It was close. She was close. She couldn't stop seeing him. Involuntarily she arched and flung her head back and a shock of electricity seemed to pass through her. Again and again these waves of pleasure rippled through her as she moaned loudly. Her body twitched and her breathing slowed as she began to come off her orgasm. She opened her eyes slowly and brought her hand down to her sides.

Poppy had no idea what just happened. She stared, stunned, at her reflection. All she knew, was that was the most amazing thing she had ever experienced, and it was the thought of Branch that made it happen.


	5. Chapter 5: Studies

Again, sorry for taking so long to get this chapter written. I was in the process of moving so things have been a bit busy. But luckily I'm all settled so hopefully I'll be able to have more time to write. Enjoy! I had fun writing this chapter.

 **Chapter 5: Studies**

It seemed that now whenever poppy so much as thought about Branch her stomach would get butterflies and a shadow of that peculiar pulsing sensation would return briefly. It was impossible for her to forget that moment. She thought about it very often. If she was ever in town, a sixth sense was always on alert for him. When she entered the city hall or any other building that she knew he might be in, her eyes automatically began scanning the room. _I'm going CRAZY_ she would think to herself. It seemed impossible to get him off her mind. Even when she was hanging out with her friends her mind was usually somewhere else.

And Branch aside, what was that thing she had felt? That electric feeling that had exploded through her? Was it just something she could do? Or did everyone experience those peculiar pulsing sensations? It must be just her… or else why hadn't anybody ever told her about it? Something that amazing couldn't simply be kept secret! Every time she thought about bringing it up to someone, though, she got unusually shy. As though she knew deep down that it was something people simply did not talk about. She had decided that the best course of action would be scientific. Every night after that day, before bed she would experiment on herself. Touching her hair and her body. Feeling the strange sensations that surged through her. discovering what it was that made these feelings transform from mild background noise to sudden pulses and throbs of wild, uncontrollable urges. She found, easily enough, that the mere thought of branch would cause the latter. It was insane, really! She would even have to excuse herself from class in order to run to the restroom and take care of these urges. It seemed that her body was out of control.

It had been nearly three weeks since that night and poppy had enough. She had to figure out what was going on. She had, up to this point, been trying to avoid him. If that was how her body reacted to the thought of him in the middle of choir class, what in the world would happen if he was standing right there in front of her? She decided after school one day to take a visit to the village library. There had to be something there that would explain what it was she was going through. As she climbed the mossy steps of the library Poppy was trying to decide which section her curiosities would be under. Health perhaps? Or troll anatomy? Mental Health Maybe?

As she browsed the isles she slipped book after book off the shelves, hoping that at least one of them would help. once her hands were full she inched slowly to a nearby table, her stack teetering precariously as she went. The last thing she needed in her strange state was to drop 20 something books about _Troll Sexuality_ and _The Life and Love Patterns of Trolls_ across the library floor. She plopped herself on a hard wooden chair and began flipping through page after page. Hours passed as she read, and she couldn't believe the things she was reading. How could nobody have informed her of this subject? Troll sex and puberty had never been taught in school! Her father never spoke to her about it! And she doubted that any of her friends had become as enlighten as she was currently becoming. How in the world were Trolls supposed to just know these things? Was there some kind of informational lecture that she happened to miss or something? It's not like her species were exactly shy about sex, but it was just never talked about. Of course she always knew were babies came from, they grew inside small pods that hung from the tallest branches. There was even an annual festival celebrating the hatching of these pods. Everyone knew that! But what she didn't know was how the pods got there. Every one was more preoccupied discussing parties and fun rather than talk about anatomy, babies, or Troll hair.

After reading for a while longer Poppy finally slammed shut one of the thicker books with a defeated huff. _Okay,_ she thought trying to organize the jumble of thoughts that were swirling in her brain. Apparently Trolls have a mating season. _Okay, easy enough_. Trolls that have gone through puberty are particularly affected during this time, making them more prone to sex. _More prone to sex… hmmm is that the right way of saying that?_ This mating season, which lasts a couple months in the mid summer to mid fall is the only time trolls can procreate. Although trolls can do sex any time during the year, fertility is highest during these months. _Doing sex…_ Poppy tried to visually put together what that would look like according to the books. Supposedly the hair is involved. _Makes sense…_ she thought about how Branch's hair made her feel and… yup, hair is defiantly a major part of it. She opened up the book again to scan for that paragraph she came across earlier.

 **'…** when trolls become sexually excited they release pheromones, the purpose of which is to attract the attention of a mate. This attraction between two [or more] troll[s] can eventually result in the act of sexual intercourse. The hairs of one troll will connect with the hairs of another troll. When the male troll orgasms he releases spores into the air. These spores are small, yet visible, and contain a particular scent specific to the male. When the spores attach to the females' hair while she is fertile, chances of pregnancy increase…'

Poppy read those few sentences over and over again. Apparently after the female's hair is fertilized a zygote will begin forming in her hair and after a few weeks the embryo is then transferred to the tree to continue developing for about 7 months.

Even after learning and reading all this information she still had not come across what it was that she had experienced when touching her own hair. It was infuriating! She had been here for hours and although she had learned a great deal, she still hadn't found the answer to that one question. She decided at long last to save this fight for another day. She was starting to get a headache from all those books and her stomach gave a loud rumble. She walked towards the entrance of the library still lost in thought and barely focusing on where she was going. If her mind wasn't so preoccupied she might have noticed the figure that was about to cross her path. But unfortunately (or fortunately) she didn't and walked head first into Branch himself. They both were knocked to the floor and the stack of books branch had been balancing impressively all tumbled down.

"Ouch! Jeeze, look where your going next— Oh Um, Poppy…" Branch stuttered to silence as he realized who had just walked into him. Poppy, who had been rubbing the bridge of her nose (one of Branch's books had hit her in the face) looked up at him suddenly. Branch thought she looked very surprised to see him here and the next word out of her mouth proved that he was right.

"Branch! HeHe, Ummm, Hey! What are you doing here?" He couldn't help but noticed that her face had turned a shade darker.

"Poppy, It's the library… I'm Branch… I always come here. This is practically my second home, come one! You know that!" He made his way into a kneel and began gathering up the books that were sprawled along the floor.

"Oh right! I completely forgot!" Poppy looked down at the books Branch had taken out. _Dar's Encyclopedia of Fungi,_ and _Principals of Horticultural Physiology_.

"Oh, your reading about plants?" She tried to sound halfway normal which was hard to do when her mind kept replaying what she had just learned.

"Yeah, My Chanterelle are for some reason not growing as big as they used to and I'm trying to figure out why. What about you? I don't see you here very often" Branch, like poppy was trying to keep things normal. The last time he had seen her was the morning after the party and he still got sweaty whenever he though about what they did.

"OH! Ummm, you know just some light reading stuff…you know…" Branch gave her a confused eyebrow raise. "Like, Um, clouds! Yeah, been reading about clouds!"

"… Clouds?"

"Yeah, totally! They're um, fun and pretty and… You know its just good to know as much as you can about everything that's interesting to you because you never know when it'll be useful and … stuff.." Poppy could hear herself talking but she had lost control. Why was she acting this way? And here Branch was seeming perfectly normal. She glanced at his hair which was the worst involuntary idea she had all day because the minute his jet black hair reached her eyes that familiar pulsing sensation returned.

branch wasn't dumb. He knew Poppy was acting weird. He listened, confused, as she rambled on about clouds and he nodded, pretending to understand what the hell she was talking about. He did notice, though, that as her words became dumber and her face became redder her eyes had wandered up to his hair. wut _…_ he thought _Nope, there is no way that she's looking up there._ He suddenly felt self conscious. Nobody had looked had his hair the way she was looking at it now. And what… his mind began going blank… was that delectable smell? He began breathing deeper. A slightly musky scent that smelled like a mix between Honeysuckle and citrus. His heart began beating faster and he pulled at the neck of his vest. Was it abnormally hot in the library today or what?

And then suddenly Poppy stopped mid sentence. Her breathing was rapid and she looked up into Branches eyes.

"I… I'm sorry, I have to go!" Poppy scream-shouted at Branch and without so much as a goodby she ran past him and out the Library doors.

Branch just stood there extremely confused. His mind was still a little hazy and that amazing smell was still lingering in the air. He stared after her and continued watching the entrance minutes after she had disappeared. _What in the world just happened?_ he thought.


	6. Chapter 6: Guy's Night

Branch stooped down, picking up the rest of the books. He stood and looked out to where Poppy had disappeared in the trees. His breathing began to go back to normal as the smell quickly mingled and faded into the crisp breeze of the fast approaching winter.

Branch sighed before turning back into the library. He grabbed a few other horticulture books as he walked up to the front desk and slid his stack to the troll behind the desk who started checking out the new books.

A table with books piled a mile high caught is attention. He squinted at the names on the spines. His mind began racing. _There's no way_ he thought. There's no way poppy had come all the way to the library to study up on troll sex. But, then again, she was acting really really weird. Well, weirder than she normally does anyway. He supposed it wasn't out of the realm of possibilities that she had come to the library to study about troll anatomy. It's not like Poppy was dumb or anything. No certainly not. But it just wasn't something branch automatically pictured her doing. He grabbed his stack and began heading back to his bunker.

The walk through the village felt longer than usual as branches mind switched between what he should be thinking about (his mushroom garden) and what was certainly off-limits (poppy). He wasn't so distracted, though, not to notice the two trolls who had waved him down.

"Hello Branch." Biggie smiled at him cheerful. Guy Diamond was carrying Mr. Dinkles and also gave Branch a wave as they approached him.

"Hey guys" Branch, who honestly didn't know too much about biggie or guy diamond wondered what it was that they wanted with him.

"Branch, we're glad we ran into you!" Biggie smiled.

"Okay…?"

"Well we know that You and Poppy are pretty close and we decided that it would be a grand idea for the three of us to have a guy night! You know, get to know each other more. What do you think?"

Branch was taken aback. No one (besides poppy, because she's weird like that) had ever asked to him to hang out, let alone have a "guy night" with him. Normally branch would say no and push past them, but something deep inside him thought better of it. It might even be a good idea. Biggie and Guy Diamond would no doubt know things about poppy that he himself didn't know. And seeing as how poppy has been acting all crazy weird, this would be a good opportunity to possibly figure some things out.

"Ehhhyeah, yeah sure why not." Branch said a bit hesitantly.

"Thats great!" Guy diamond exclaimed, "Shall we meet at your place?"

"My place!?" No one besides poppy had been over to his place before."Well, sure I guess so. Wait tonight?"

"Tonight sounds great! we'll be there later on then. Don't worry, we'll bring snacks!" Guy diamond and Biggie walked off happily. Snacks were not what Branch was worried about. It made him a little nervous having other trolls over to his place. He wasn't ignorant. He knew his bunker was sad and lonely. The exact opposite of what Biggie and Guy diamond would want. _Well whatever, They practically invited themselves over anyway, They get what they get._

Later that evening Biggie and Guy diamond (and Mr. Dinkles, I guess) arrived at Branches bunker and were let in by a slightly nervous, yet determined Branch. Determined in that fact that his goal for the night was clear. Get info on Poppy. What Branch didn't know, though, was that he would end up actually enjoying his guy night. The three of them ate snacks, joked, and just talked. No loud music, no dancing, no singing. Branch thought that when they wanted to be, Biggie and Guy were actually pleasant.

Guy had just finished an impression of old-troll-demford who was the village's (phony) psychic that made Branch bark out an awkward laugh. Biggie had spurted his drink out of his nose and ran to get some napkins.

"Hey, I have a question for either of you." Branch decided to get it over with. He had been nervous the entire night, trying to figure out how to ask, when to ask, if it would be weird to ask…

"Shoot!" Guy leaned in, able to tell that Branch had suddenly become very serious.

"Well, its about Poppy… Has she been… acting weird around you two at all."

Guy gave a pondering look as he thought, "Hmmm no I don't thing so. Not that I can remember. Yo Biggie! You get that?" Biggie came back into the room dabbing himself with a wad of napkins.

"She hasn't been weird around me, no. Why, has she been weird around you branch?" Biggie gave a squeak of excitement at the thought of it. "She has hasn't she! Oh I knew it!"

"Wait knew wha—"

""You think so biggie? I always thought maybe, but it's so hard to tell. Poppy's pretty good at hiding her true feelings"

"what are you two talking abou—"

"well duh, of course thats what it has to be! Why else hasn't she ever talked about anyone else before"

"What's it ha—"

"Awe man! This is exciting! I love drama!"

"STOP!" Branch had enough of this gibbering. "WHAT are you guys TALKING about?"

"Branch, You mean you really don't see it?" guy leaned in further "Poppy likes you!"

"Yeah, I know she does. We're friends, obviously she lik—"

"NO! I mean she wants you. She's attracted to you."

"Yeah!" Biggie gave branch a knowing look, "She's the princess, she could have anybody in the village. But she hasn't. Not only that but she's never even seemed interested."

Branch was quite for a moment. "No. No that's impossible. No ones would be attracted to me, especially not Poppy. She cant be. I mean look at me!" He gestured to his grayness.

"Well branch, I think that's were you're wrong!" Biggie winked. "You may not be colorful, but You're pretty handsome. And I should know, Guys are my type after all"

"I'm not handsome! What are you talking about!"

"Branch" Guy looked at him pointedly "You're definitely not bad looking. trolls are just intimidated by your gruffness, Thats why no ones approaches you, its not because your ugly! And besides everything works right?"

"Works? What do you mean?"

"You know, you're hair—"

"Of course my hair works!" Branch's face lit up with embarrassment and he crossed his arms uncomfortably and looked away. Of course his hair worked. What kind of inappropriate question was that…

"Well good! Because I've defiantly seen poppy looking."

Branch glanced back up at guy and biggie. "Really?" he asked incredulously. His heart gave a flutter at the idea. "But you guys said she hasn't been acting weird."

"Yeah, around US!" Biggie shouted exasperatedly. "Of course she's not acting weird around us, she doesn't want us! she's for sure not my type, and guy is practically like a brother to her. The reason she's weird around you is because she wants to tap that." Branch gave a suggestively knowing look towards branches hair and wiggled his eye brows.

Once Biggie and Guy left to go home Branch collapsed onto his bed and stared, lost in thought. Could Poppy actually want him. He thought about the party last week and the way Poppy had moaned when his hands were in her hair. The way her panting made her chest rise and fall, and the way her body looked as she let him feel her. Branch felt hot and thought about taking a cold shower to calm himself down. But the thought of poppy kept him still.

Suddenly he stood and walked over to his dresser. He rummaged around the bottom of the lowest drawer and pulled out a journal. Opening it up he found the loose photograph of him and Poppy from a few months ago. She had set up a tripod and made him pose with her next to a large oak they had hiked to. He looked closely at the photo as he walked back to his bed and sat down. He stared at the image of Poppy. Smiling sweetly next to him. Her arm around his shoulder. He could still feel the burning heat where her bare skin touched his.

Involuntarily his hand reached up and rubbed the shoulder that she had pressed herself against in the photo. Then, still looking intently at the photograph his hand slowly crept from his shoulder upwards. He began stroking himself. His fingers ran through his jet black hair. He knew he shouldn't be using Poppy like this again, but he couldn't stop himself.

She was the only thing that could help him in these situations.

He thought of her face and her soft body pressing against his hard torso. He imagined feeling the small mounds of her breasts squishing against him and this made his hair stand straight. He let out a low groan at the thought.

Why did he do this to her. He had no idea of knowing what her reaction would be if she were to see him now. Stroking himself off furiously to an image of her as he whispered her name, low and gruff. He wanted to see her beneath him. He wanted to watch her wriggle with anticipation as he ran his large hands up and down her softness.

He imagined pressing into her, taking her hair into his, Listening to her breathy moans and smelling her musky intoxicating scent. It drove him crazy. It made him want to do crazy horribly dirty things to her.

He wanted to dominate her and make her moan and pant and beg. He wanted her to feel every inch of him and beg for him.

Branches eyes were heavy and distant. Sweat dripped down his body as one hand rubbed furiously through his hair and the other gripped tightly onto the photo of him and poppy. His breathing was fast and heavy and he groaned with a deep animalistic need. He starred at Poppy's image as he imagined them together.

He thought of her in every angle. Every possible angle. At this point he stopped caring if it was okay to think of her this way. He couldn't stop himself. He thought of her on her back, legs spread wide with him pressing down on her. He thought of her on all fours, looking back at him as he rubbed his body against her thick ass and imagined taking both of her cheeks in each hand and squeezing.

This was so fucking wrong. He hated himself for it. He imagined her on her knees gazing up at him as he roughly handled her hair with both hands. He wanted tot see her cum. How would she look while coming? Would she arch her back and shudder? Would she hold him tight?

The thought of her body twisting with pleasure as she moaned his name, and the thought of her hair pulsing around him as she overflowed cause Branch to cum hard. He convulsed over and over as his spores spurted out in thick clouds. He shuddered as his orgasm slowed. His was still breathing heavy as his unfocused eyes slowly found himself alone in his his room.

His heartbeat returned to normal as he slowly looked around himself at sweat dripping down his body and his cum which had finally settled on and around him. he sighed as he looked back at The photograph.

Guilt engulfed him as he looked at Poppy, perfectly innocent and happy.

God, what would she think. She'd hate him. She'd feel disgusted by him. Disgusted by the fact that he used her over and over again to his liking. It had started a few months ago. It was innocent enough at first, he would just think of her face and smile.

But now it had gotten bad. He thought of her in the most degrading dirty ways. he couldn't help himself. She had a power over him and he couldn't resist. He sighed as he stood. He returned her photo to it's place knowing that it would be soon before he would use her again. He went to bed that night. Thinking of Poppy.

Hoping she would never find out, yet wishing that she would.


	7. Chapter 7: Early Arrival

The Winter cold had settled upon Troll Village swiftly and without warning. The excitement for the holidays was palpable and most of the village had started decorating for the new year and solstice.

Poppy was especially excited since this year she would be hosting her Winter solstice ball. She had been working on her invitations for the past few days. It finally gave her something to think about other than what she had learned about in the library weeks before. Since then she tried to act as normal as she could whenever she saw Branch. It was difficult but she was pretty sure she had succeeded. Nothing Branch did or said revealed anything out of the ordinary. They'd hung out as usual without any major awkwardness. Poppy still hadn't talked to anybody about her library adventures or self exploration and that fact probably wouldn't change soon. Of course she thought about it a lot. Whenever she and Branch were together she had to focus extremely hard about ignoring the nearly constant butterflies and pulsing in her body. Maybe it was just her imagination but she had noticed branch had been a bit stiff around her lately too. Silly things like keeping a larger distance than he usually did and holding his breath. Although, maybe he always did that and Poppy was the one being weird and over analytical about it all.

She had spent a bit more time on Branches invitation than the others and when she had finished she set it aside, separate from the others. She stared for a moment and then shook her head. _You're being crazy Poppy. Branch is just… he's just a friend_ as she swept his invite into the piles of others. Her and Branch were just friends. She couldn't bare the humiliation and embarrassment if Branch ever found out that she thought about him while touching herself. What would he think? He would surely laugh at her. She bit her lip a little as she thought. Slowly she reached out and picked up branches invite. Butterflies fluttered in her chest as she looked at it. She stood suddenly and started putting on her coat and scarf. _I'm just gonna give branch his invite first. he always takes so long to tell me if he'll go or not so it just makes sense. No other reason…_ She glanced at her reflection. Her berry red coat pinched in at her waist and flared out at the bottom giving her a very hour glass figure. Her hair was especially pink and silky. She reached up and readjusted a loch just behind her ear before bouncing out the door towards branch's.

The walk through the village was icy and poppy struggled a bit not to slip. She had just past the village square when her eyes were drawn to black hair that had just rounded the corner of the post office. She speed walked as carefully as she could to the corner that Branch had just disappeared behind.

"BRANCH! HOLD UP!" Trotting through the snow was harder than it seemed, but luckily branch had heard her call and was waiting expectantly.

"Poppy, What is it?" Branch took notice of poppy's spiked breathing and the rosy color in her cheeks and nose. It must be from the cold. He made sure not to spend too long looking at her lips which were darker that usual from the lip balm she had applied earlier.

Branch had been taking extra care to be as Branch-y as he could around Poppy. He had made sure to keep their hugs to a minimum and their distance friendly yet professional. He had been exercising as much control as he could of his hormones, Specifically when it came to his indecent thoughts of Poppy. Branch had hoped that If he could keep a good physical distance away from her then he'd finally be able to curb these primal urges he'd been feeling for her. Unfortunately for Branch, though, it was apparently not enough because even though he hadn't touched himself in what seemed like ages, The urges were still there in full force. Especially when he saw Poppy all rosy-cheeked and panting.

"Here you go!" She reached into her hair and pulled out the invite. Branch gave her a knowing look.

"Poppy… come on! No. I'm not going" He started to turn but Poppy grabbed his shoulder to stop him, while simultaneously cornering him against the wall.

"Come one Branch! I promise it will be much more fun than the last par—" Poppy suddenly remembered their truth or dare game "—I mean, I think you'll enjoy this one much more. Its a semiformal event!"

"how on earth do you think it being semi formal will make me enjoy it more? That's like, the opposite of what it will do!"

"No NO! It'll be nice I promise! Pleaseeeee" branch could feel and see poppy's warm breath as she leaned close in to him. The frozen air and snow blew around them and her words came out of her mouth along with small puffs. She had already backed him into the wall where there was no escape for Branch and Poppy was getting far to close for comfort.

"I wasn't able to have a holiday party last year so this years it's gonna be special. And I want all my closest friends to be there, which includes you." His heart skipped. Branch had to do something. Poppy was still inching closer towards him and she didn't seem to be slowing. The closer she got the harder it was for him to think clearly. All he could see and smell was her. Every freckle on her beautiful face was in focus and her honeysuckle scent had surrounded him. He had tried his best to look anywhere except for her moist pink lips and had only failed a few times. But Poppy didn't seem to notice, she was too focused on her plea. A blush had just started to color his cheeks when he gave in.

"FINE!" Her face had been inches from his when he had shouted it out. She jumped and squealed with glee.

"You wont regret it Branch! It's going to be so fun! I cant wait to see you all dressed up!"

"WHoa wait! Dressed up? Why will I be dressed up?"

"well it's semi formal… so semiformal wear, Duh! dress to impress."

"But Poppy, you know I don't own anything fancy"

"Dont worry branch! It doesn't have to be anything TOO horrible! Just a little, you know, fancier than usual. No ones judging! But I am excited to see you." She gave him an reflexive once over. Branch's heart sped suddenly and her slightly lingering eyes made him self conscious.

"Stop it will you!" His hands flew over his torso to cover the opening of his vest. "Fine I'll wear something."

"Yay!" Poppy clapped her hands together once. "I cant wait Branch. Oh, And I still have my gift for you! I'll give it to you at the party." She leaned in and gave Branch a tight hug. He could feel her soft cheek against his before she withdrew and skipped off.

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— Branch dejectedly stared at himself in the mirror. It really was no use. No mater how long he fretted over his hair or readjusted his tie, there was absolutely no way to make himself look halfway decent. Why had he even said yes to poppy's holiday party in the first place?! Straightening his tweed blazer he gave a sigh of defeat and turned to leave. He grabbed a small package wrapped in brown paper and stuffed it into his pocket as he shut the opening to his bunker. Making his way to the castle his mind started wandering back to the week before, when poppy had asked him—Branch approached the Castle steps and began up them. Trolls dressed in all shades and shapes were milling about near the entrance and Branch could hear music from inside. To his surprise though the music was tamer than usual. It seemed like this party was defiantly more formal than anything else poppy had put together. Branch also noticed that compared to everyone else, he was significantly underdressed in his scratchy brown jacket and oversized tie. He passed trolls wearing glittering gowns, large elegant hats, and brightly colored tuxes. He readjusted his attire again and stomped his feet free of snow before stepping through the castle's large oak doors.

Inside it dazzled. Large silver, gold, and red orbs hung from the ceiling and thick garlands draped the walls. Three large trees stood in the spacious entrance way decorated perfectly from top to bottom. Warmth and cheer filled the entire place and trolls were having fun drinking and laughing together. Branch began weaving his way through the crowd heading towards to food. He figured that he would start there. it would give him an excuse not to talk to anybody since his mouth would be full.

Branch figured he'd stay for an hour or so and that would be enough to satisfy poppy, but half an hour had already passed and he had yet to see her once. Granted, he was still standing awkwardly next to to buffet table and had not ventured though the crowds looking for her. Just as he about to pop what seemed to be the 100th puff pastry into his mouth something heavy knocked him to the ground from behind. Danny had tripped into him. A particularly clumsy troll who Branch had never spoken to. Danny, who had fallen to the ground with Branch quickly and awkwardly rolled off him. She was apologizing profusely as she blushed. Danny grabbed branches arms and helped him up.

"I'm so so sorry! I did't even see you there, I swear I just looked away for a sec— oh my gosh, your jacket I'm so sorry!" Danny squeaked as she grabbed napkin after napkin off the buffet table and started mopping up the champagne that she had spilled all over branch.

"It's fine, It's fine!" He tried to bat her hands away but she just kept trying to clean him up.

"I'll pay you for the cleaning I swear, Oh my goodness I feel awful" from branches peripheral came the bright pink form of poppy. He looked up from Danny towards poppy and froze. She was magnificent. His heart seemed to stop as he took in her elegant form. Poppy was wearing a large ballroom gown made out of shining silver scales that hugged her curves and trailed behind her. Branch's eyes ran over the sweetheart neck of her dress which framed her décolletage in the most tantalizing way. If the first sight of her had stopped his heart, then the sight of her bare neck and plunging dress had started it again, only this time double the speed.

"Branch! Danny! I came over to say hi, but now I'm wondering if everything is okay"

"Oh yes I just—"

"She knocked into me… by accident" Branch cut in. he knew how this looked and he didn't want poppy to get any ideas about him and Danny. He'd never even talked to her until this point.

"Yes! I'm so sorry again. I so clumsy. And now thanks to me your jacket is ruined"

"No no, it's honestly fine" it's not like this jacket could get any worse so…

" Oh well branch, if you need to change you can borrow something from my dad." Poppy chimed in

"No it's fine reall—"

"I'm sure we can find something that fits!" Poppy grabbed branches hand and began leading him towards the stairs. "I got this Danny! You just continue enjoying the party!"

Branch who wasn't sure what to say silently and nervously followed poppy up to the second and then third floor (This castle seemed huge to him!).

His hand seemed to have caught fire as poppy took him down a long hallway. The party was barely audible and branch picked up on poppy's breathing and smell. She seemed to have put on some type of sweet perfume, but underneath it he could still make out the deep mysterious scent that was Poppy. He swallowed has she lead him into the third door on the right and closed the door behind them.

"This is my dad's spare room. I'm sure he wont mind if I lead you a new outfit." Poppy hummed as she opened the closet and started rummaging around. She threw a few items onto the bed (Which branch had noticed the minute they walked in).

"There, lets see how these do" Poppy handed branch a sleek black tux jacket and then flopped herself onto the bed. Branch stood there awkwardly holding the jacket.

"Uh, Poppy, where can I change"

"Branch, it's just a jacket it's fine" she smiled sweetly at him, but beneath the sweetness Poppy's intentions were peaking through.

His heart started to speed up. He slowly removed his jacket. He tried not to look at Poppy as he did so. The air in the room seemed thick and Branch felt a little vulnerable. Poppy had seen him shirtless before, he knew, but being alone together in a closed room with her watching him from the bed (not the mention how sexy she looked) made this different from before. He slid his jacket onto the floor. Branch glanced up at poppy and what he saw made him swallow again.

Poppy was staring right at him. Her eyes traced over every muscle, over his chest and stomach, looking him over. She licked her lips as she took him in. His hair looks so… thick, and she wanted to feel it all over her. The cocktails she had drank earlier didn't help. they made her feel reckless. They made her feel honest. _Friendship? Had she honestly thought they could just be friend fiends? Of course not. Tipsy Poppy knew that, and she was determined to change it._ She wanted him to see her too so she leaned back and started playing with a strand of her hair coyly.

Branch had by this point slipped the silk jacket on and looked again towards poppy for her opinion. But instead she saw her, again, seductively eyeing him, he noticed with a loch of her hair twisting in her fingers tantalizingly.

Branch tried to speak but had to clear his throat nervously "Well Poppy, what do you um, … think?"

Poppy leaned up and beckoned him with her finger, "Come here, I want to change something" The cocktails had made her say it. Sober Poppy knew what they **should** do. They **should** go straight back to the party and carry on with the night, but Poppy's mind was too full of branch. She was too turned on to back down now and her scent had filled the room, clouding Branch's thought process. He walked towards her slowly. His heart was going to burst out of his chest and his hair stood up straight and thick.

"Poppy I'm not sure if I shou—"

Poppy grabbed either side of the jacket and slipped it off of his shoulders. It landed with a soft thud onto the floor. Branch shivered as her fingers grazed him.

"I think I like it better like this" She whisper up at him. Her hands trailed down his arms and around his wrists. She pulled him slowly to the bed. Branch could only follow. Every other thought besides Poppy had been driven out of his mind by her and her musk. His eyes were heavy as he crawled onto to her. Instinctually he pressed himself against her, and felt her soft body mold against his.

Fuck she felt so good. So soft and warm. He breathing was heavy as one hand caressed her breast and the other ran the length of her body. Her smell was driving him wild. He could barely form a cohesive thought as she rubbed her body against his.

GOD he had imagined this for so long and now he was actually living it. Her body against his caused his hair to get longer and thicker. He moved in to kiss Poppy's delicate face and Poppy reacted with the same eagerness. Her lips moved against his as he grinded himself against her.

Her soft pink tongue darted out teasing his lips, making him growl with a primal sexual frustration. He needed to be with her. The sounds of their moans mingled together in the thick air of the room and seeped into the hallway. Poppy reached up and started stroking branches hair with her finger tips. It felt so fucking good. God Just the thought of connecting his hair with hers… Branch couldn't think. All he could feel was her hands through him. Stroking him softly.

Branch furrowed his brow as he tried to hold on. She needed to stop or else… But Poppy wouldn't stop. she kept stroking him, kissing him, moving against him with her hips against his. She needed him too. She kept stroking, coaxing him into her.

She could just feel the pleasurable sensation of his hair beginning to tickle and twist with hers when suddenly branch let out a loud throaty primal groan. He tightened his grip on her body. It would have hurt if she wasn't so turned on. Through her aroused eyes she looked up at him and saw branch's face scrunched up in the most seductive way.

He bit his lip as he moaned and Poppy realized what was happening. Branch's orgasm was strong, he came all over with spores going everywhere. Branch released burst after burst of cum and shuddered with each contraction. Spored were landing everywhere, in her hair, on her face, on the pillows. They were both still for a few moments, Branches labored panting slowing down. He squinted his eyes open taking her in. She was licking some of his cum off of her lips.

Branch sat up, The reality of the situation slowly coming back to him as he took in what had just happened. _Oh Shit. He fucking ejaculated prematurely all over poppy._ His face burned red at the idea of her seeing him cum prematurely. He didn't even have a chance to touch her hair. He could barely hold on, what with her rubbing him and all that. How long had he even lasted, 2 minuted? And that was without connecting with her!

"Poppy I—- ahhh I—" His face was dark from embarrassment.

"Branch?" Poppy looked at him, confusion creeping onto her face.

"I uhh—- I'm sorry Poppy I—" Branch began to scramble off of her. He wanted to run. He wanted to run away from his embarrassment and hide and never have Poppy look at him again. What could he say to her, _I'm sorry I came to soon? you're too hot and I wasn't able to hold it in?_ How fucking pathetic.

"I—I'm Sorry Poppy I— I need to go!" And Branch ran. He ran down the stairs and out the door and he ran all the way back to his bunker. He would never be able to look Poppy in the face after that, How could he? Poppy was left confused, sad, and aroused. What had she done? She had ruined everything?

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Thanks for reading! leave a review, let me know what you think. Sorry it's a little late for the holiday season, but better late than never ;)


	8. Chapter 8: Don't Mention It

It had been weeks since the incident and Poppy had been unable to contact Branch in any way shape or form. Luckily though, nobody had found out. Except for the gossip that had sparked due to Branch running half naked through the King's castle, but with time that too dissolved.

Poppy wasn't sure what to think. Did he like her the way she liked him? They had fooled around that night after all, and Branch wasn't the kind of troll who would do that with just anyone. Surely Poppy knew him well enough to know that. But then he just…ran away. So what did that mean? Was he disgusted by her? Maybe he thought she was easy?! And now he doesn't want to talk her because she'll whore herself out to anyone? Poppy's anxieties and imaginings had gotten worse and worse the more she thought about it.

It had been almost two months for crying out loud! How in the world has she not seen him for that long. It's not like troll village is that huge!

Poppy's depressions over what had happened and her lack of communication with Branch had been noticeable, despite her best efforts. Chenille and Satin had noticed first, but eventually Biggie and Guy Diamond and Suki had been clued in. This was partly because in two weeks Poppy was turning twenty-one. Usually Poppy was as bright as can be, bouncing off walls, and singing every second of the day especially when it was right before her birthday. But fore some reason this time was different and nobody knew why.

Satin had decided that something had to be done because Poppy's color had dimmed significantly and seeing her trying to plaster on a fake smile everyday was painful.

Satin had told Chenille who told Guy who told Suki who told Biggie (Creek, unfortunately was out of town for the next month or so visiting relatives) that for Poppy's 21st Birthday they were going to do a Sleepover. In the past Poppy's birthday's had been huge, loud celebrations where the entire village was invited. But Satin knew that two weeks was still not enough time to get over this funk that was weighing her down. This year something small and intimate was best, she thought.

The Snack Pack all agreed and had prepared everything they needed and more. Chenille had decorated her and Satins pod with party celebrations, candles, and they had worked day and night on a new dress as their gift for Poppy. Biggie was in charge of collecting game material for the night, Suki was obviously in charge of the playlist and Guy had already gathered all mandatory snacks and more for the sleepover.

The night of, Biggie and Guy had arrived at Satin and Chenille's early to help with any last minute preparations. Since one of Biggie's passions in life was baking, he had helped guy with Poppy's cake! A two tiered white sponge cake with lilikoi jam filling and a lavender and honey buttercream frosting, decorated with wild flowers they had picked earlier that day, YUM!

"I Really hope this will cheer Poppy up, I hate seeing her this way" Biggie mused as he had been finishing up he cake decorations.

"I know, I wonder what been bugging her this whole time. How long has been down for again" Guy responded.

"About two months" Satine chimed in. "Ever since her Holiday Party."

I small silence followed.

"You don't think it has anything to do with Branch do you?" Chenille asked the room. "I mean, we all saw that thing that he did. Running around without his top. He may be an outdoorsy dude but that honestly seems a bit prude for him. I don't know, maybe something happened between them and that why he ran away practically naked"

Satin glanced over at her sister. Chenille had always been a 'say what you think,' 'maybe a little to honest' type of person. But for tonight the last thing Satin wanted was to make Poppy upset.

"Chenille, you guys, I don't think we should bring it up tonight. It's Poppy's big day and I think she just wants to relax and—"

"But she's been this way for months now!" Chenille huffed at her sister. "What, we're just gonna ignore it and carry on, pretending that everything is okay with her?" Chenille had stopped wrapping up the present she had been working on and crossed her arms.

"I'm not say that! I'm just saying not tonight Chenille!" Satins voice rose. Biggie and Guy glanced at one another nervously. It wasn't everyday that the sisters argued. In fact, they were usually on the same wave length.

"I don't know why we should be beating around the bush like this! Poppy's our best friend and I don't want to act like there's not something bothering her when it's obvious that there is!"

" I get that but —" The door bell interrupted Satins counter and the two froze for a second. Satin locked eyes with Chenille and gave her a knowing look as she backed towards the door.

"Do. not. mention. it." Satin whispered the words across the silent room before suddenly turning and opening the door.

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The door opened and Poppy and Suki were met with the cheerful smile of Satin, dressed from head to toe perfection as usual.

"Poppy! Happy Birthday!" Satin gave Poppy a tight hug before letting her and Suki into the house. "Hey girl, I'm excited to hear your new mix!"

"Ah you better be! I've been working on it for days! I think the flow really works!" Suki gave Satin a hug before stepping in and closing the door behind her.

The party had started. They played games, ate tons of food, watched a few movies, gossiped, and Poppy seeming like her normal self. Although, Satin thought, she could just be pretending. She's gotten pretty good at it.

Poppy had opened her dress and nearly wept at how beautiful it was. The cake was the best thing any of them had ever tasted. And it was hard to gossip and talk when the music was so good you couldn't stop moving. Suki had even brought out a lil hemp grass which was a rare treat! The roll went around and everybody took a hit, even Poppy which was somewhat unusual for her. Everyone was having a good time. Eventually Chenille and Suki went out onto the balcony and Biggie and Poppy where having a tipsy and heated discussion about baking and whether letting the eggs warm to room temp before using them actually mattered. Guy had just gotten back from the bathroom and was helping himself to a third piece of cake.

Satin had nestled herself comfortably into one of their overstuffed cushions, listening quietly to Poppy and Biggie's argument. Tonight has been a success. Poppy was having fun and whatever had been bothering her the last two months had finally taken the back seat.

"Ahhh, I'm done!" Biggie finally threw up his hands in defeat. "You win!" Poppy gave him a smug smirk. "Hey Satine! let's get those two back in here and we can start our game of Never Have I Ever!"

"Sounds good!" Satin bounced up from her chair and headed for the door. She walked along the balcony which encircled her and chenille's pod. Near the back she finally came upon Chenille and Suki, who had been leaning on the railing looking out into the forest. Both of them jumped suddenly at her sudden appearance. Satin had noticed that the two had been holding hands but that they had quickly dropped them just as she had been noticed. Chenille's cheeks were tinged a light pink and she tried to avoid her sisters eyes.

"Oh uh, sorry. Didn't mean to scare you guys. Biggie said we should start the game now"

"Ah hell yeah! This is gonna be fun!" Suki gave a delighted squeak as she hurried back inside.

Chenille came more quietly. Peaking over at Satin to see if her face had given anything away.

A few heartbeats of silence passed before Chenille looked down and said quietly, "We don't want anyone to know yet, so don't tell anyone what what you saw, okay?"

Satin was quiet until she reached the door. Before she opened it, she gave Chenille a gentle smile, "Saw what?" Satin winked before she went inside. Chenille let out a relieved sign and followed her sister in.

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Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed. This chapter was interesting to write since there are so many characters in it and I wanted to give more personality to each of them. It's surprisingly challenging to do! But I'll keep working at it! Anyway, I love reading everyone's reviews so please feel free to write them! Also, thank you for telling me to hurry up! Time flies and before you know it two months pass. So just keep bugging me because it works! I'll try and update sooner!


	9. Chapter 9: A Glitch in the Plan

The game of Never Have I Ever had started off innocently enough, as games like this usually do. But soon, the 'never have I ever's began to get more personal and a little naughtier, as games like this also usually do.

"Never have I ever kissed someone!" Biggie buried his face in his hands, full of embarrassment.

Poppy had tried to drink her shot quickly and stealthily but it was to no avail. Her, Chenille, and Suki had all taken a shot and each of them had been noticed by the entire group. There was a loud roar of disbelief and jeering by Satin, Biggie and Guy.

"Wait wait wait! Poppy, who have you kissed?! When?! Who?!" Biggie leaned in. A blush had crept onto Poppy's cheeks as she fidgeted with her shot glass. She was already a few drinks deep and she bashful averted her eyes.

"No one really."

"Oh come off it! You've gotta tell us!" Biggie pushed.

"Don't, don't laugh at anything okay? It was Branch" Poppy mumble his name under her breath.

"We cant hear you Poppy, Say it louder!" Suki slurred eagerly.

"It was BRANCH! Okay?!" Poppy stood and went to refill her punch as an excuse to get away from the eyes on her.

"What! When was this?" Guy was as surprised as everybody else in the room, all of which had anticipated that when she finally had her first kiss she would have told them immediately.

Poppy sighed. She knew that she would have to explain, and she did so begrudgingly.

Poppy had covered her eyes in embarrassment during her whole recollection, so she had no idea what her friends thought of her ordeal. They had all listened quietly until the very end.

Poppy felt a soft hand on her shoulder and peeked through her fingers. It was Satin.

"Poppy, you know, none of that was your fault right?"

"Well then why do I feel this way?! Why has he stopped talking to me. It's been weeks and he's avoided me the entire time! Why, if not for the fact that he must be disgusted with me!"

"Poppy.."

"I mean, I seduced him like that, and now he must think I'm some kind of a trollop* or something"

"Poppy I don't think.."

"NO! that has to be it why else would-"

"It's because he's embarrassed! Chenille sharply broke through poppy's worried ramblings. The room was silent for a moment.

"What do you-"

"HE'S EMBARRASED" Chenille repeated every syllable clearly and distinctly. Satin opened her mouth to scold her sister for being so blunt and rude but Chenille kept going.

"Poppy, come on, you're a smart person. Branch is obviously not very experienced in that department and then here you are, serving yourself up to him on a silver platter. There's no way that he wan't nervous. And then that whole.. _expressing_ himself early… well, that's an embarrassing thing!"

"It is?"

"Of course it is! Especially when you're with the person that you like."

"But, but but there's no way that branch-"

"Poppy, if you say what I think you're about to say, then you're denser than cream cheese frosting"

The rest of the slumber party continued with Poppy talking it out with her friends. Trying to figure out her feelings and making sense of what branch's were. The conclusion came at the end of the night just as everyone drifted off to sleep. Poppy decided that no matter what, she had to ask Branch directly what he thought of her. Tomorrow she would ask him. If her said that he liked her more than a friend, then she would cross that bridge when she came to it. And if he said that she was just a friend then she would just have to find a way to dampen these peculiar thoughts and feeling inside of her.

The next day came and Poppy went home to shower, change and mentally prepare herself for what she was about to do. Poppy ran into smidge (who had been returning from a weekend bootcamp preparing for an upcoming weight competition) on her way home. Poppy quickly filled in smidge on her plans for that day and smidge gleefully offered her services. Smidge would help poppy keep tabs on Branch so that Poppy would be able to sneak up on him in order to carry out the rest of her plan.

The pair of walkie-talkies that connected smudge and Poppy were absolutely critical and Poppy was glad that she had remembered where in her attic they were boxed up.

Poppy was taking deep breaths in from of the mirror while adjusting her hair and dress when the fuzzy static from the talkie alerted her. She retrieved it from the depths of her hair and whispers into it "Poppy here, over"

A bit more static followed before Smidges low voice came through.

"Poppy, he's on the move. Looks like he's headed back to his place from town hall.

"Copy, I'm on my way. I'll intersect him at Glenn and Moss St." Poppy said breathlessly as dashed out. She knew that her planned intercept point was a 7 minute walk from her place and that would give her a minute or two to spare before Branch would get there.

A thin glistening of sweat coated her forehead as she slowed from a sprint to the cross streets. Now all there was to do was wait. Poppy paced a bit as she tried to wipe her face clean with one hand while fanning herself with the other.

"Poppy" Poppy gave a start. The voice didn't come from the direction she had anticipated Branch to come from. She turned quickly with surprise as well as sweat on her face. Creek was approaching her from behind.

"Creek! Wow what a surprise" A smile much too over the top and toothy was suddenly plastered on her face. Creek was going to ruin the whole thing!

"What are you doing back in town! I thought you weren't going to be back for a few more days"

Creek had reached up and pulled out a beautiful and full bouquet of flowers from his hair.

"I came back to see you're lovely face! I'm only sorry thought I missed your birthday by a day"

Branch suddenly reached out and grasped one of poppy's hands and pulled her towards him so that her body smushed against his and there was barely an inch separated their faces.

"Creek! What are you-"

"Poppy, there's something I must tell you!" Poppy leaned back instinctively. He was much much too close! "Poppy, I've had my gaze upon your shining beauty for far too long. It's time I tell you that you, my dear, are the most lovely, most elegant, most alluring creature in my whole, whole life."

Poppy attempted to look away as she tried to create space between them by pushed against his chest. "Creek I-"

"But of course I've felt our chemistry too," Creek squeezed her tighter against him, "Please, Poppy dear, accept these flowers"

Poppy, was extremely uncomfortable with this situation, both emotionally as well as physically. She figured that he would let go if she accepted the flowers "Well, thanks Creek, that means a lot"

And before the last word had barely escaped her lips, Creek had planted his firmly upon her. Poppy was stunned. She couldn't move! Creek was kissing her? Creek was kissing her! She started to squirm away. Creek must have confused that with passion, she thought, because he wasn't letting go and she could feel his wet tongue push it's way into her mouth. This surprised Poppy enough as it was, but out of the corner of her eye she spotted something dark at the end of the street. It was Branch. The sight of him pulled her out of her stunned state and gave her a big enough adrenalin rush that she gave a great shove against Creek who stumbled backwards.

"Branch!" her chest heaved with breathlessness after Creeks intensely long kiss.

Branch stood there with his mouth slightly agape. His eyes giving away all the shock and hurt that he felt in his chest.

"Branch it's not-" Poppy started as she stumbled towards him. But Branch turned and sprinted. In Poppy's breathless state there was no way she could catch up and she slowed her chase at the end of the street. She stood for a moment in disbelief before burying her head in her hands slowly. This was bad.

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Thanks for waiting! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. So much drama ahhh!

So I get a question in a comment asking if the trolls have genitalia. In my mind, no they do not, Their hair serves as their sole body part for mating. So no penises and no vaginas. Troll hair in this story is a troll's erogenous zone that they use for things such as sexual activity and mating. BUT, their hair is also like a third arm where they can use it for day to day tasks, storing objects, picking things up, defending themselves, etc. In this weird little troll world that I've made-up trolls don't usually touch each others hair unless they are very close, platonically as well as romantically. So for example, Branch and Poppy get sexually excited when they touch each other's hair because they are attracted to one another in a sexual and romantic way. Chenille and Satin are often seen with their hair connected, not because they are lovers, but because they are extremely close as sibling. It would be rude and invasive to touch a trolls hair without their permission. Hope that answers any questions!


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